Dynamic vehicle information management

Abstract

A method for dynamically managing data changes to a vehicle health monitoring system (VHM) by a datacenter using an external agent is provided. The external agent is operational on, or in communication with, a vehicle. One of updating or modifying a vehicle configuration file is performed to add or delete vehicle information on the vehicle configuration file by the external agent. A dummy file is created on a disk by the external agent. The dummy file provides a signal to the datacenter that the vehicle information on the vehicle configuration file has changed. The disk is polled periodically by the datacenter to identify a presence of the dummy file. Responsive to identifying the presence of the dummy file, the configuration file is read into VHM memory by the datacenter.

1 . A method for dynamically managing data changes to a vehicle health monitoring system (VHM) by a datacenter using an external agent, the external agent operational on, or in communication with, a vehicle, the method comprising:
 performing one of updating or modifying a vehicle configuration file to add or delete vehicle information on the vehicle configuration file by the external agent;   creating a dummy file on a disk by the external agent, wherein the dummy file provides a signal to the datacenter that the vehicle information on the vehicle configuration file has changed;   polling the disk periodically by the datacenter to identify a presence of the dummy file;   responsive to identifying the presence of the dummy file, reading the configuration file into VHM memory by the datacenter.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further including notifying a user by the datacenter that the configuration file has changed. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performing one of updating or modifying the vehicle configuration file is performed by a first application. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the polling the disk periodically by the datacenter to identify the presence of the dummy file is performed by a second application. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performing one of updating or modifying the vehicle configuration file is performed by the external agent at a local site to the datacenter at a remote site. 
   
   
       6 . A method for dynamically managing data changes to a vehicle health monitoring system (VHM) by a datacenter using an external agent, the external agent operational on, or in communication with, a vehicle, the method comprising:
 performing one of updating or modifying a vehicle configuration file by the external agent to add or delete vehicle information on the vehicle configuration file;   setting a system variable to a predefined value by the external agent, wherein the predefined value of the system variable provides a signal to the datacenter that the vehicle information on the vehicle configuration file has changed;   polling the system variable periodically by the datacenter to identify the predefined value;   responsive to identifying the predefined value, reading the configuration file into VHM memory by the datacenter.   
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , further including notifying a user by the datacenter that the configuration file has changed. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the performing one of updating or modifying the vehicle configuration file is performed by a first application. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the polling the system variable periodically by the datacenter to identify the predefined value is performed by a second application. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the performing one of updating or modifying the vehicle configuration file is performed by the external agent at a local site to the datacenter at a remote site. 
   
   
       11 . A method for dynamically managing data changes to a vehicle health monitoring system (VHM) by a datacenter using an external agent, the external agent operational on, or in communication with, a vehicle, the method comprising:
 performing one of updating or modifying a vehicle configuration file by the external agent to add or delete vehicle information on the vehicle configuration file;   sending a user-defined signal from the external agent to the datacenter, wherein the user-defined signal includes at least one of a unique process name and identification;   receiving the user-defined signal in the datacenter, wherein the datacenter identifies the user-defined signal based on the at least one unique process name and identification; and   responsive to receiving the user-defined signal in the datacenter, reading the configuration file into VHM memory.   
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , further including notifying a user by the datacenter that the configuration file has changed. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the performing one of updating or modifying the vehicle configuration file is performed by a first application. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the receiving the user-defined signal is performed by a second application. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the performing one of updating or modifying the vehicle configuration file is performed by the external agent at a local site to the datacenter at a remote site. 
   
   
       16 . A method for dynamically managing data changes to a vehicle health monitoring system (VHM) by a datacenter using an external agent, the external agent operational on, or in communication with, a vehicle, the method comprising:
 performing one of updating or modifying a vehicle configuration file by the external agent to add or delete vehicle information on the vehicle configuration file, wherein a timestamp is recorded on the vehicle configuration file concurrent with the one of updating or modifying the vehicle configuration file;   polling the timestamp periodically by the datacenter to identify a newer time associated with the timestamp; and   responsive to identifying the newer time, reading the configuration file into VHM memory.   
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , further including notifying a user by the datacenter that the configuration file has changed. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the performing one of updating or modifying the vehicle configuration file is performed by a first application. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the polling the timestamp periodically by the datacenter is performed by a second application. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the performing one of updating or modifying the vehicle configuration file is performed by the external agent at a local site to the datacenter at a remote site.